“It’s a significant milestone for safeguarding global forests given China’s importance in the forest products value chain, as well as its own substantial forest area,” he said.
“It is not only in the top five countries in terms of forest area, but also the world’s largest manufacturer of forest products.”
The CFCS was endorsed by the PEFC general assembly after proving that it complied with the international certification scheme’s sustainability benchmarks, which cover a range of areas, including standards development, sustainable forest management and chain of custody certification.
Mr Gunneberg said that China had demonstrated their commitment to the long-term sustainability of their forest sector and the millions of people it employs. China has the highest afforestation rate of any country, increasing tree cover from 12% to 21% in 30 years, with the aim of reaching 23%, or 223 million ha by 2020.
Two million ha are covered by the CFCS.
